Beers of the Axis

I suppose it had to happen, what with my tendency toward history and the historic, but before I go off on this somewhat tongue in cheek tangent, I probably need to point out (to the 1 person in 100 who will somehow take this wrong and brand me a hater) the fact that this is good natured beer discussion with an admittedly awkward historical slant. I don’t mean any disrespect to the citizens of Japan, Germany or Italy, nor do I mean any disrespect to nations who might have fought with or against these nations in any wars past, present or future. Finally, having said that, I don’t think this is the last installment of this topic you’ll see here at Beer Rant. Like it or not.

Also, I’m not pretending for a second that the beers sampled for this post were beers that were produced in or by the Axis powers during World War II – I’m too lazy to verify if these beers were produced during the war.

And so, with the disclaimers out of the way, I bring you….

Beers of the Axis

Germany, Italy and Japan; the powerhouse triumvirate of the 1930s and early 1940s. Beating up on weaker or dumber neighbors, mass killing on an unprecedented scale and war crimes – real war crimes, documented the world over by the way. Ahh, the good old days.

In September 1931 Japan invaded Chinese Manchuria and in October 1935 Italy invaded Ethiopia and in March 1938 Germany moved into Austria and into Poland by September 1939, thus finally setting off the spark that started what came to be known as World War II.

I’ve often wondered why historians don’t set the date further back, like with Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia or farther back still, to Japan’s invasion of Manchuria. For the purposes of this discussion, let’s give Japan its long-denied credit for having taken the first steps down the road to all out, worldwide war in 1931. In my book, when it comes to World War II, Japan was the trendsetter so let’s start with a (supposedly) Japanese beer, shall we?

Sapporo Premium Beer will represent the land of the rising sun in this review of Beers of the Axis. It smells of vinegar in the bottle and pours a golden yellow with a weak head. Very little taste; indeed of the three Axis beers in this post, this one rates the lowest for taste and get this: the label states that it’s brewed in Canada! (Well, Canada did help win the war, so it stands to reason.)

If Japan is to be credited for lighting the fuse that lead to the explosion of World War II, then next in line comes Italy, with its invasion of Ethiopia, where Italian tank crews fought valiantly against out-gunned locals. Ah, inspiring, isn’t it? Well, what of their beer?

I selected a bottle of Birra Moretti from a multi pack Beers of the Galaxy box that’s been sitting around Beer Rant HQ. Birra Moretti smells a bit sour in the bottle and pours a golden yellow color, producing little head but active beading. The taste is a bit sweet and gone quickly. Nothing much to this beer, really. It’s probably a good session beer and the figure on the label of a hat-wearing fellow seems pleasant enough; he doesn’t look like someone who would instigate a military conflict with a weaker regional neighbor; just some mustachioed fellow sipping a cold beer while he waits for his pizza.

Finally, an example of German brewing prowess that I’m sure most readers and visitors to Beer Rant have heard of, Spaten Oktoberfest Ur-Marzen. I’ll confess that this one was my favorite of the three – I’m partial to Marzen’s for some reason and have had this one on more than one occasion in the past. It’s confounding that the same nation that brought us the Reinheitsgebot purity law governing the production of beer, also managed to concoct a set of regulations that dehumanized vast segments of the population, leading to the extermination of millions…but I digress.

Spaten Oktoberfest Ur-Marzen has a grainy smell in the bottle and pours a light tea color with a weak head and medium beading in the glass. The taste is vaguely of roasted nuts with a quick caramel finish. While I’m happy and proud that the allies kicked the snot out of a nation of people who allowed the Holocaust to take place I’m also glad the Reinheitsgebot remains in effect; this beer’s a keeper.

There you have it, a thumbnail sketch of three beers representing the Axis powers of World War II. Next time, perhaps, a posting on Beers of the Allies, who knows.

(My posting for The (Late) Session will be in a few days by the way.)